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OLD FORGE — Old Forge school directors heard from five candidates for its open school board seat but couldn’t reach a consensus on which to appoint.

The board unanimously accepted longtime board President Deborah DeSando’s resignation Wednesday. Directors, who now have 30 days to fill her seat, attempted to do so during the meeting after publicly interviewing candidates.

Six residents applied for the seat, which has two years left in the term. The board may meet again Dec. 6.

Elaine DiAndriola, a former Old Forge administrative assistant and coach of the marching unit and color guard, withdrew her name before the vote. She later said she received a message saying the board already decided to appoint Alison Stack.

Director Frank Scavo did move to appoint Stack, an administrative assistant at Luzerne Optical Laboratories and 10-year resident of the borough, to the board. Stack, who in her application speech stressed fiscal responsibility, “made it clear” she was unaware of the rumor.

Devon Brown, a current borough councilman and senior at King’s College; Shirley Helbing, a former Old Forge Council member who is in semi-retirement from Johnson College; Debbie Pepsin, a former Old Forge teacher and athletic director, who retired in 2014-15; and Jenna Jones Shotwell, a 2002 Old Forge graduate, legal assistant and member of the Snow Forge committee, also interviewed Wednesday for the position.

Before the candidates spoke, Christopher Cesare Thomas, who was elected last week to serve on the school board despite having a secret settlement with the district after his firing in March and then resigned in July, took to the podium to ask the board to not vote on a new member Wednesday but “pause” for 30 days and evaluate the candidates.

He felt the new incoming board, which also includes Alisha Marmo, Patrick Aulisio and Joan Wilk, should be responsible for filling DeSando’s seat.

Wilk, who sat in the back of the Old Forge High School auditorium Wednesday, joined the audience in yelling and interrupting the board’s vote on a new member until directors suspended the rules of order and let the public address the board.

Thomas addressed the board for a second time, asking them to leave the post open for 30 days so the community is aware of the position. Throughout the meeting, the former principal and teacher threatened Superintendent John Rushefski, at one point saying “he says he doesn’t answer to me, that changes the first week of December.”

Near the end of the meeting, talks turned to Rushefski’s contract, which expires in April 2018, as Ciuferri pointed out.

Thomas addressed the board again, citing case law he’s ready to apply if the current board tries to push through another contract

for Rushefski.

“I hope we don’t have any more meetings before the new board takes their seats,” he said.

Meanwhile, the board approved a contract with Cartellino Specialized Transport Inc. for snow removal services at the varying costs of $65, $85 and $125 an hour depending on the service.

The board also voted to purchase 15 stools for $1,141.30 for the second floor library computer lab and approved a contract with the Wilkes-Barre Area Career Technology Center at $7,354 per student through the 2021-22 school year. The rate did not increase from the previous contract.

Contact the writer:

kbolus@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5114;

@kbolusTT on Twitter

Board reorganizing

The Old Forge School Board reorganizational meeting is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 6. Applications for the open board seat will be accepted until Dec. 15 and the advertisement for the seat will remain on the district’s website.

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